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But something about the set-up behind the scenes and the new owner obviously didn’t suit him and Boro tick a lot of boxes, as he put it.

He is clearly driven and wanted to start something afresh and I like that.

And I think he will be inheriting a squad featuring a lot of players who will be determined to use their frustration with what happened last season's relegation and turn it into a positive.

In a perverse way, there might be others who are relieved to a degree that Boro are back in the Championship if they feel like they had a shocker in the Premier League.

Everyone is different and has a different outlook, and everyone has their level and a front room they feel most comfortable in, so you never know.

But all I know is that when we were relegated from the old first division I came back and had my best season in a Boro shirt the following campaign and scored more than 30 goals.

From a selfish point of view I felt that I still deserved to be playing in the top flight.

I’d been the third highest scorer in the first division and there was talk of me going to Leeds with Carl Shutt coming in the opposite direction.

I was linked with Celtic which got squashed and there was talk of me going to Wimbledon which came to nothing.

But I was happy on and off the pitch on Teesside.

I liked the people and every season at the club was a cliffhanger.

We were either fighting for promotion or against relegation, or in the play-offs.

Bernie Slaven in his Boro playing days at Ayresome Park

You couldn’t have scripted times like that.

But all I know is that I almost felt like it was personal slap in the face that I’d been relegated.

I wanted to prove I still deserved to be in the top flight and really got stuck into life in the second division.

I’m sure other players will have felt the same at the time, and I’m sure there are players in the current Boro squad who are thinking along the same lines now.

Ben Gibson is pretty much established as Boro’s Player of the Year for last season and I could imagine him having an absolute stormer for example if he stays in the Championship for the same reasons that I’m talking about.

Boro defender Ben Gibson (Image: Getty Images Europe)

I think there is going to be a lot of shared hunger and determination with both the Boro squad and the manager next season, which has got to be encouraging for the team’s prospects.

A lot of the bookies have already chalked Boro up as either favourites or joint favourites to win the Championship before they have even signed anyone.

I certainly wouldn’t be putting my mortgage on it at this stage if I was a gambler, which I’m not.

But I do genuinely think there will be a lot of inner steel at the club next season which will serve Boro well.

I'm still getting stuck into coaching when I'm not following events at the Riverside, and the Reds Academy that a few of us ex-Boro players run continues to go strong.

We've also now started new Tiny Reds sessions for kids aged four and upwards.